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No, this is not the STD.
We're all aware that the CTO have issued one of their periodic, and ultimately ignored, edicts about getting to scheduled breaks on time. I've always been mildly puzzled as to why this is such a gigantic deal, although I guess if a sponsor has paid to have its ad played at a certain time in a certain hour, some effort should be made to do that.
The other day, something occurred to me.
During a Hardline ad break, I switched to RaGE. Ads.
Flipped on down to Galloway and Co. Ads.
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| Your Plainsman Searching for Sportsy-Talk Goodness at the Sod House |
There's a big flaw in this reasoning, in that The Fan and ESPN would not have a strong incentive to keep themselves on time, because it is in their interest to have broadcast content going on while the P1 is channel-hopping. Maybe it's just that those stations are better at keeping to their ad schedule, and The Ticket is aping what they know the competition's schedule to be.
I suppose another possibility is that The Hardline (in particular -- it seems to be the worst offender, if offense it be) is so casual that if some discipline were not imposed, they'd end up having to scrunch segments into itty bitty intervals at the end of the hour to get all those hour's ads in.
In any event, maybe someone out there can tell us why it is so critical to "be on time" with breaks.
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This is unrelated, but what does "hard by the AAC" mean? I know that the AAC is, but have never heard something described as being "hard by" anything before.
ReplyDeleteAdjacent to; in close proximity
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this phenomenon with television, too. It doesn't matter if it's local or cable/satellite, you almost always find that more often than not stations take breaks roughly at the same time. Same goes for all of radio, not just our local AM sports talkers. At least that's been my observation for many years now.
ReplyDeleteAn aside: When are you going to lay that scorching hot STD on us, Plainsman? It's been a long while since you've posted up something provocative, something personal, something with teeth.
Hey remember the "Apocalypse sometime..." article? Yeah this blog sucks.
ReplyDeleteYou don't listen to the station often if you think the Hardline is the worst offender.
ReplyDeleteGoing past the scheduled break time impacts the quarter hour PPM thus one's ratings.
ReplyDeleteRatings estimate audiences based on how many people report listening to a station for at least five minutes during a quarter-hour. Those who can be kept listening for ten minutes over a quarter-hour are therefore likely to count for two quarter-hours so stations avoid playing commercials, which would drive away listeners, at these times.
It also impacts the frequency of the airing of the ad which the advertiser contracted the station to air. If the advertiser paid for X slots during a show and got less than X, they are either due back money or ads will be run after the contract expired until fulfillment.
122: Perfect. Didn't understand all of it, but it had the ring of authority.
ReplyDeleteIn case you were wondering, same goes for TV. Ratings for quarter hours are done in one five-minute interval within that quarter hour. So for instance, I had to be back from a commercial by 10:14:45pm or so to guarantee I was back when 10:15:00pm hit on the clock, and the 7-day forecast (the big driver in local TV news) was not allowed to hit before 10:20:00pm. If I hit that 7-day forecast before 10:20:00pm, I gave people an opportunity to turn away before the marker and we lost them as a viewer in the ratings. In other words, I (as a producer) got screamed at quite heavily.
ReplyDeleteOnce that five-minute period was over and 10:20:00pm hit, it was fair game. The anchors could tap dance the rest of the show for all management and consultants cared.
Is McClearin no longer married to his teen bride? He kept talking about going out to the Flying Saucer on a near daily basis and dragging along a buddy, Juan, who wasn't married. I don't know many married guys who can pull off going out like that on a regular basis. So I take it he's divorced. Anyone know the scoop there?
ReplyDeleteHey Dirty Greggo (AKA Idiot Troll who, after several months of being away, has returned). I hope you think the same about your partner, Richie Whitt. Because his "Last Supper" articles and predictions didn't come true. I guess you don't understand what it is you write. "Sometimes" means at a date to be determined. As in, the future. Moron.
Meant "Sometime."
ReplyDeleteActually it's all rich Phillips driven. Tickers at 12 , 34 and 53 just doesn't have the same ring as tickers at 10-30 and 50.
ReplyDeleteThe Ticket, as an absolute 100% priority, must pull Conrad's Tom Grieve Show promo before another moment passes and recut it in a version in which he is not saying a word that he is pronouncing "grievious." Drives me frackin' nuts.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of ads, I use an ad blocker in my web browser and since roughly a week ago, in the middle of every single article (and the picture of Mitzi Gaynor) there's a white block with the message:
ReplyDelete"This webpage was blocked by an extension
A third-party extension has blocked access to this webpage."
It makes the articles pretty hard to read.
I know it's not something you've done, Plainsman, rather something that Blogger is doing to try to keep people from using ad blockers. It's pretty crappy if you ask me. Which I know you didn't.
While stuck in traffic this afternoon and flipping between ESPN, The FAN, and The Ticket, it suddenly hit me why The Ticket is so much more successful than the other two stations; and why the other two, try as they might to imitate, are unsuccessful. It's because during the two most important listening periods of the day, AM and PM Drive Time, the hosts of ESPN and The FAN make the show about themselves, whereas The Ticket hosts make their show about the listener and whatever topic happens to be on-hand. Sounds obvious. Sounds simple, an easy fix. Right? Perhaps. But it would seem that it isn't. Now where the late-morning/mid-day shifts are concerned, I think there's not much of a discrepancy between the three stations. The landscape is populated with Ticket ex-pats who are very much Tickety in their way of going about hosting. Besides (maybe someone much more knowledgeable can correct/confirm this) it seems to me that the success of the AM Drive sets, in many cases/ways, the ratings success of the mid-day programs. Meaning that many listeners will keep their "dials" fixed (even on the work cpus), become familiar and used to what follows, and therefore become a regular listener...which in turn translates into ratings. PM Drive, being something that for most people is an in-car, fighting traffic experience can either be set up by AM Drive (radio still set from the morning commute) or, since it is a re-tooling of sorts, one might have another station/show for that particular drive altogether. But I don't think it's too much of a stretch to see how AM Drive can set up the ratings for the rest of the listening day. OK. So what? So back to my original point: If you listen to what passes for AM Drive on either ESPN or The FAN and compare it to The Musers, you can't help but notice the difference between Dunham and Miller and the other two. Same goes with Galloway and RaGE vis-a-vis The Hardline. As ho-hum as The Hardline can be, and as "me, me, me" as Corby can be, it pales, absolutely pales in comparison with the damn near solipsistic worldview of Greggo and Richie, and the ego that knows no bounds of one Grandpa Urine Galloway. The upshot is, The Ticket is bookended by shows that (excepting Corby) serve the P1, not themselves. Sure, the other two shows take callers, but if you listen to what goes on, you quickly realize that the calls are taken to (i) take up time and (ii) serve as ego stroking or cannon fodder for the host (which is another way of stroking the ego).
ReplyDeleteBirq: Very sorry. Google Blogger is crap, but it's free. The ads disappeared a long time ago for no reason I can discern, and I haven't been able to get them back. But apparently your app can see them, and even blocked our poor Mitzy. Too bad, she looked good in that picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of changing the site to something a little more proprietary, but that takes time and money and knowing stuff about how to do that. Strike three.
1134: Know nothing of Mr. McC's domestic arrangements. For his sake I hope all is well.
Couldn't disagree more with alvinintexas. The main drive time segments are at 810 and 510 and are usually personal stories or the top story of the day. If anything they are more personal or different at those times.
ReplyDeleteMike did it again today.
ReplyDeleteHe was spiffing a Petty Theft appearance and got as far as "Petty Thef . . ." and then switched to "a P.T. show"
Feel free to disagree with me all you want, but sheesh, to base your disagreement on two 5-8 minute segments that you claim are the so-called main segments. Can you be explicate a bit further, Anon? I also think you misunderstand my point about the overall mien (all about the host or the P1). I'm not talking about a segment, I'm talking about a general tone. For example: Listen to Galloway tomorrow if you can. You will notice that no matter what the issue is, it revolves around his stance or that in someway he is involved. The subject can pertain to NCAA football to the Mavericks, it's still the same. With RaGE you get the same thing, except whereas there might be one, even two personal segments per Musers/Hardline shows, nearly the entirety of RaGE is a personal anecdote. There's a marked difference going on. And one that I believe makes a huge difference in the success of all three local sports stations. Like I said, feel free to knock me down (in fact, I welcome it), but please be a bit more substantive. If you would be so kind.
ReplyDeleteAnd one more thing: If by top story of the day you are referring to The Top Ten, well that's TC's (or whoever happens to be running it) subjective call. It's not voted on by the listeners. And those number ones or twos more often than not are either a bit (which is all about pleasing the P1) or an interview.
ReplyDeleteSorry, one more thing: (My apologies for the weird syntax in these posts.) When I say that Galloway or RaGE makes everything about themselves, I also mean that, like say The Russ Martin or Howard Stern shows, the issue at hand isn't what's really being discussed. Rather, the issue is Galloway's or Greggo's or Richie's take and how the rest of the crew reacts to it. So in the end the show is a show about them, not the issues of the day, and certainly not the listener. The listener, like the rest of the crew, is there to massage the host's ego.
ReplyDeleteAlright, I'm done. Let's talk golf.
and now Dr Salmon is gone
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Ron: I heard that "Petty Theft -- er, P.T." yesterday afternoon. Interesting: Sounds like Mike might have gotten a letter from ol' Tom's trademark lawyer, although the problem isn't saying it on the air -- the problem is using it at all, if indeed it is a problem to use an artist's name in the name of a band. (Using the word "theft" in conjunction with the appropriation of the artist's goodwill probably isn't helpful, either.)
ReplyDeleteTribute bands probably skate pretty close to the edge on trademark/copyright issues. There's a Steely Dan tribute band in the San Diego area called "Steely Damned" and others pun off their foundational band names as well.
But "Petty Theft" not only uses part of a band name, it uses the name of a personality, appropriating not only band goodwill, but the celebrity's image. Still, however, I wouldn't think Petty Theft would be on any different footing than, oh, let's see . . . Elvis Presto! Unless Elvis has a license from the Presley estate, which I'm sure Theft doesn't have from the Heartbreakers or Mr. Petty.
Mike must have creeped Tom out at the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the STD Plainsman?
ReplyDeleteHe never had one, he was buying time.
ReplyDelete"I think you're wrong."
ReplyDeleteCraig Rosen-Rosen drop aside, I am beginning to wonder if this fine forum for, ahem, serious Ticket discussion, will be around this time next year. Or hell, by Christmas/New Years. For whatever reason it seems that The Plainsman has cooled to this blog (I believe he's said this is only one of a few that he runs). Be it work, family, interest, or a combo of some or all, this thing is kinda dying. The only thing that's keeping it relevant and at times interesting is the commenters. Which is cool, but only to a certain extent. It'd be nice for The Plainsman to go MTC Old School on us again and drop some STDs. A series of STDs. The last 6 months or so, we've been promised that this or that one is piping, scalding hot--maybe too hot to even post--only for nothing or an admitted much watered down or shortened version is loosed. Usually it's nothing. According to some of the radio boards and sites The Fan is going to make a or at least some major changes come January. So maybe that'll recharge this thing. Other than that, I probably won't be stopping by as often as usual.
Just a note to say that I laughed out loud three times at The Hardline yesterday. That show doesn't have much in the way of sports content, even in ostensibly sportsy segments, but seems to me that as the years have gone by, Mike, Corby, and Danny have developed a radio sound like nothing anywhere else. Three very different types, but friends, and projecting the pleasures of that friendship for 3.5 hours every day?
ReplyDeleteThat's more than talent -- it's art.
Now he ignores his own commenters and readers. Only farting out little observations here and there. He's lost it. Site sucks
ReplyDelete"He's lost it. Site sucks."
ReplyDeleteI assume that means you'll be leaving us now, then.
Hey! The Hardline are good friends. I like to listen to them.
ReplyDeleteWhatever Time Anon: I don't know.
Another Whatever Time Anon: I agree.
The stream works. The stream doesn't work. Anyone having a stream problem? The stream works. The stream doesn't work. No, wait, it works.
I have a big story I'm sitting on. But I'm not sure I'll post it.
Hey! I like Junior Miller.
Hey! I heard Mike R say Petty Theft instead of Petty Thief. I wonder what the law says about it?
I like steak.
I like to fart.
Actually, 433, that was fairly amusing.
ReplyDeleteMy question is: what brings you to this site? It is not hard for me to understand why a P1 would find this site dull or wrong~headed or long~winded or hoity~toity.
But I don't get why anyone would find it contemptible. The Confessors and I may have a strong view from time to time but man, this is really a pretty relaxed joint.
And sure, after three years of content, you are going to see a repeated theme or two.
And your jokes reveal that you have been coming here for awhile.
So ~~ unless you are an extremely touchy Ticket or Fan employee who can't stand even the slightest public commentary on your performance ~~ what's the deal?
Any thoughts on the Bob and David maiden voyage? So for, so good, as far as I'm concerned. A bit more sports than I thought it would be. Then again, it's just getting going. I'm looking forward to the "journey" with these fellows.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened at 8? Ticket Top 5?
ReplyDeleteAll right, me hearty Confessors, heave to, trice up, pod right, and fasten your frackin' seat belts.
ReplyDelete